Amar Ujala to foray into Gorakhpur on April 6

Hindi daily Amar Ujala is gearing to strengthen its foothold in Eastern UP. The newspaper is set to foray into Gorakhpur. The edition will be launched on April 6.

Manu Anand, Director, Amar Ujala, said, “Eastern UP has had a gap for long and there has been an imminent need for an unbiased newspaper to fill in that void. Gorakhpur is a strong market to support the propagation of newspapers. The idea is to penetrate deeper into the market.”

Through its Gorakhpur edition, Amar Ujala will be covering districts like Maharajgang, Siddharthnagar, Deoria, Kushinagar, Santkabirnagar and Basti. Besides giving space to national, international, sports and entertainment related news, substantial emphasis would be given to local news and events, which have so far not been adequately dealt with in the area. “The region will get more in-depth coverage. The entire region would see a better newspaper,” Anand added.

At present, Gorakhpur has Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sahara, besides some local players. While elaborating on the competition aspect, Anand said, “We have already begun to feel the heat of competition even before our launch. We have the consumer’s confidence to deliver a fresh product with superior and unbiased news reporting. We intend to fight for the number one position right from day one.”

Amar Ujala deployed around 450 people who visited around 3,00,000 households over a period of four-six months to understand the nuances of the market. Anand said, “The idea was to build a relationship with 3,00,000 households so as to create an environment for them to latch on to the Amar Ujala brand.”

As far as Eastern UP is concerned, the newspaper is already present in Allahabad and Varanasi, and with the Gorakhpur launch, Amar Ujala intends to consolidate its position in that belt.

On the circulation front, Anand said, “We are confident to start with 1,00,000 copies right from day one.” The promotional mix constitutes outdoor activities, road shows, distribution of calendars to the households, sending mailers, and printing of a special city guide on Gorakhpur.

The daily will complete its foothold in UP with its Lucknow edition, which will be launched by the end of this year.